Scout Willis Opens Up About Walking Around Topless in NYC

Scout Willis has always loved Instagram, she writes. But Willis, 22, admitted she walked around topless in New York City last week after her Instagram account was deleted for â€œinstances of abuse.â€?…

Scout Willis says she has always loved Instagram.

But Willis, 22, admitted she walked around topless in New York City last week in protest after her Instagram account was deleted for “instances of abuse.”

“Which in reality amounted to a photo of myself in a sheer top and a post of a jacket I made featuring a picture of two close friends topless,” Willis wrote Monday on XOJANE. “For these instances of abuse, I was politely informed that I would no longer be welcome in the Instagram community.”

She added, “My situation was in no way unique; women are regularly kicked off Instagram for posting photos with any portion of the areola exposed, while photos sans nipple — degrading as they might be — remain unchallenged. So I walked around New York topless and documented it on Twitter, pointing out that what is legal by New York State law is not allowed on Instagram.”

The daughter of action star Bruce Willis and actress Demi Moore Tweeted pictures of herself shopping topless in New York City at the end of May.

“What began as a challenge to Instagram and its prejudiced community guidelines became an opportunity for dialogue. Matters like the taboo of the nipple in the 21st century, public breastfeeding, slut shaming, fat shaming, breast cancer awareness, body positivity, gender inequality, and censorship have found their way into mainstream discussion,” she added.

Willis said that her namesake has given her a platform for which to bring up important issues.

“I am certainly not doing anything novel … the ‘Free The Nipple’ campaign has been protesting for the same rights for the last four years. If my coming from a high-profile family could help spread their message, so be it,” she wrote. ” Why can’t a mother proudly breastfeed her child in public without feeling sexualized? Why is a 17-year-old girl being asked to leave her own prom because a group of fathers find her too provocative? Why should I feel overly exposed because I choose not to wear a bra? Why would it be okay with Instagram and Facebook to allow photos of a cancer survivor who has had a double mastectomy and is without areolas but “photos with fully exposed breasts, particularly if they’re unaffected by surgery, don’t follow Instagram’s Community Guidelines.”

She added, “I am not trying to argue for mandatory toplessness, or even bralessness. What I am arguing for is a woman’s right to choose how she represents her body — and to make that choice based on personal desire and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her. No woman should be made to feel ashamed of her body.”